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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28414437">AL 277</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/aryu/pseuds/aryu'>aryu</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Banana Fish (Anime &amp; Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>First Time, Frottage, M/M, Mentions of Ash Lynx's Past, Post-Canon, Reunion Sex</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:54:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,731</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28414437</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/aryu/pseuds/aryu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ash surprises Eiji in Japan.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>193</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>AL 277</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Eiji groaned, scrubbing at his eyes as he rolled over in bed. The sun had barely begun to inch over the horizon, glaring through his curtains through the gap he hadn’t fully closed. Izumo’s rooftops blinked up at him, and Eiji sighed as his lashes met his cheeks. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He missed New York. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He missed the noise, the graffiti. He missed the constant scream of sirens and the shouting from the streets. He missed how dirty it felt, how hard English sounded spat from angry lips. He missed laying in bed and listening to a hard voice filter through the closed door. He missed bickering about food and he missed that little jump in his heart every time his eyes met jade. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He missed Ash. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A knock sounded at the front door, and Eiji frowned as he forced his eyes open again to stare up at the ceiling. It sounded impatient, annoyed, like the knock of someone who’d been waiting too long for him to answer. Is that what had woken him? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just a minute,” Eiji called, and he pushed himself up to sit on the edge of his bed. His heart had begun to race, sweat beading on his palms, and he swallowed down the nervous lump rising in his throat. His visitor pounded on the door again, harder this time, and Eiji’s frown deepened as his bare feet met the floor. Couldn’t this person wait a minute? It was too early for such urgency. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eiji yawned, neck aching from where he’d slept on it awkwardly, as he padded through the hall of his apartment. His visitor was still pounding on the door, and Eiji could feel his heartbeat quicken a little as his gut twisted anxiously. Surely if there was something wrong, if it was the police or his family, they would have said something. Maybe it was some drunk at the wrong door, or maybe an early morning delivery man with a package to be signed for. Besides, who would follow him all the way to Japan to come after him? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Eiji peered through the peephole, something he’d never done before his time in America, he was sure he was still dreaming. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jade eyes frowned down at the door, hand raised to knock again, and the man huffed as he raked blonde hair away from his forehead, wrinkled with irritation. Eiji’s heart jumped to his throat, tears burning behind his eyes, as he fumbled for the deadbolt and wrenched open the door. This wasn’t real. There was no way he could really be at Eiji’s door, flesh and blood with a beating heart and lungs filling with air. He was just a fever dream. He had to be. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ash!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Strong arms wrapped around his waist, heavy bag smacking against the wood floor of his entryway. A body riddled with scars and trauma collided with his, nearly knocking Eiji back off his feet, and he sobbed between them before Ash’s lips met his in a harsh kiss nothing like their first. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Tadaima, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Eiji.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His voice sounded so smooth, low and soft the way Eiji remembered it being late at night when they’d lie in beds opposite each other and talk. Hearing it again made Eiji feel like there was a balloon expanding in his chest, filling him with so much longing he wasn’t sure his body could take it. He didn’t have any recordings of Ash. He’d started to forget how his voice sounded, even in his dreams. Never did he think he’d get to hear it again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The front door slammed, and both their cheeks were wet with tears as Eiji threw his arms around Ash’s neck. He’d dreamed of this moment so many times he was sure he was still sleeping. Every moment since Eiji returned home had been plagued with worry, wondering whether Ash had read his letter, whether he’d tossed it aside and decided Eiji’s life would be better without him, or if he’d followed that ticket and come home to him and left everything in New York behind. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Weeks had passed, and Eiji had been sure that he would never hear from Ash again. It felt like a lifetime. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There had been nothing in the news. Ibe hadn’t gotten a call from Max. Nothing had come in the mail. No names showed up in hospital records or in obituaries. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ash had vanished without a trace, and Eiji had resigned himself to the fate of living with his memory in his soul. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But now, here he was, real and breathing and </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive </span>
  </em>
  <span>in Eiji’s arms in Eiji’s apartment and in Eiji’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>home</span>
  </em>
  <span>. How had he gotten here? How long had he been here? Why had he waited so long to come? What had happened between Eiji leaving and Ash showing up at his door that had delayed him so long? How was this really happening? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You came!” he cried, blinking up at Ash through the tears raining over his cheeks, clinging to that familiar red jacket and that stupid cocky smirk on his lips. “I didn’t- I thought you weren’t going to. I didn’t think you- “ </span>
  <em>
    <span>I thought you decided you weren’t good for me. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ash’s smile wavered, those jade eyes filled to the brim with pain, tears clinging to his lashes. How was it possible for him to have grown more gorgeous in their time apart? He looked so tired, so tormented, and Eiji wished more than anything that he could take it all away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then again, maybe he could. Maybe this was the start of that. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not,” Ash murmured, as if he’d looked into Eiji’s eyes and read his thoughts, his long fingers dancing over Eiji’s cheek to brush the dampness off his skin, lips meeting his forehead like he couldn't fight the gravitational force pulling them together. They’d shared one kiss in New York, but Eiji had dreamed of so many more that it felt so natural now to pull him in by the nape of his neck and breathe the same air as him. He wouldn’t push, he could never ask Ash for more than he was willing to give, but Ash bent to kiss him without hesitation and Eiji couldn’t hear the concerns pounding at his head over the rush of blood in his ears. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But you promised me you’d show me your home, and I want to meet your family.” Ash’s shoulder seemed stiff, the way he held himself pained like Eiji had learned after his hospitalization, and he wondered what new scars lay on him that he hadn’t seen before. What new horrors Ash had lived through without him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But that was behind them now. This was the safest place for him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And maybe, he could have the normalcy he deserved. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eiji would give him that. He would, even if he had to drag him into it tooth and nail. Ash deserved peace. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I will. I will, of course I will,” Eiji breathed, hands passing over his back and his chest and his face, every part of Ash that he could reach without stepping away from him. “My home is yours. Everything. It’s all yours.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ash was still crying, and Eiji’s voice broke with a sob as he wrapped him into the tightest hug of his life. His gut ached, but he wasn’t sure if it was more from the strength of his yearning or the wound deep in his abdomen. Maybe it was a bit of both. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They stood in that doorway sobbing for longer than Eiji would like to admit. By the time they’d moved from the entryway to his bedroom, the sun had risen to shine through his window forcefully, slanting a bright line from that damn gap in the curtains over his sheets. Ash’s bag remained slumped on the floor, shoes kicked off halfway down the hall, jacket thrown over the footboard. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They’d never talked about what they were before. Eiji supposed they hadn’t needed to. Ash’s ’I love you’ lived in his eyes, in the way his palms felt against Eiji’s back, in the relentless way he threw himself into the line of fire to protect him. Their souls had been tied together forever by an unbreakable red string. Eiji didn’t need an ‘I love you’ to know what they shared. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I missed you,” he breathed instead, one hand fisted into light hair as Ash’s knees sank into his mattress. His shoulders met his pillow as Eiji lay back, and a pill bottle clattered to the floor from his nightstand as Ash whipped off his belt with so much force that his lamp wobbled when the leather hit it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I missed </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Ash whispered in return, warm, calloused fingers pushing beneath Eiji’s sleep shirt as he kissed him again. His jaw was rough like he hadn’t shaved since his flight, and Eiji wondered how long it had been since he’d stepped foot in Japan. How long had Ash been in his home without him feeling it in his soul?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eiji’s breathing had gone ragged, and goosebumps raced over his chest as those long fingers brushed over his ribs. An angry scar lived there, freshly healed but still aching, and his fingers danced away before he could comment on it. Ash had gotten too many scars of his own protecting Eiji. He wouldn’t ever regret this one. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ash,” he whispered, gripping at his waist as lips trailed over his throat and onto his sternum once Ash had pried open the buttons of his pajama shirt. He didn’t pause for more than a glance, and Eiji buried a soft moan into his pillow as those lips closed around a nipple. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ash, you don’t- Don’t force yourself,” Eiji pleaded, and he shivered as Ash’s laugh tickled the wetness his kiss had left behind. He sat up slowly, weight balanced on Eiji’s hips, red cheeked and hair mussed with that easy smirk painted over his lips. A thing of indescribable beauty, really, and Eiji would never quite get over his guilt at picturing him this way before. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you really think I’m going to do something I don’t want to?” Ash sighed dramatically, carding his fingers through his bangs as his hips rolled. Eiji’s hands, glued to his waist, squeezed gently as the muscles tensed and shifted beneath his palms. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You didn’t meet any girls while I was gone, did you?” he asked, and Eiji balked as heat flushed over his face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course not!” he denied, and he bit back another soft noise as his hips jerked. Ash laughed, bending to press a kiss to that angry scar, before he urged Eiji to sit up and get his shirt off him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were quiet then, sharing kisses and shuddery breath, as their clothes dropped piece by piece to the floor. Eiji’s cock jumped from his briefs as Ash pulled at the waistband, and he buried his face into the crook of his elbow as his breath wafted warm and heavy over him. His fingers were sure as they stroked over the length of him, and his laughter was rice as Eiji cried his name. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve got you,” Ash whispered, pressing a lingering kiss to Eiji’s lips before rising to strip himself of his jeans. He couldn’t take his eyes off of him as he took in the whole of him, bathed in golden light and cock hard between his thighs. Ash was a god in his bedroom, sent down by his dreams, but he felt like flesh and blood when he knelt between Eiji’s thighs again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You want this?” Eiji whispered, heels locking behind his calves and arms around his shoulders. Ash’s breath was hot against his throat, and he groaned as his hand snaked between them to wrap around both their cocks. “Ash- </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ash</span>
  </em>
  <span>, are you sure?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Eiji,” he interrupted, twisting his wrist in a way that made Eiji cry out and jerk his hips, smile softening his features in a way that would be imprinted in his mind’s eye for eternity. He looked more at peace than Eiji had ever seen him, and his chest heaved with a sob as he rocked up against him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Breathe. I’ll take care of you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He swallowed his concerns, glued his eyes to Ash’s face, and let himself plummet. It didn’t take more than a few hurried strokes of his palm for Eiji to spill over his chest, voice hitched with his cry and hands locked around Ash’s biceps, and the blonde man buried his face in his throat with a groan of his own as he too followed over the edge. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Breathing harsh, skin flushed, and legs a little shaky, Eiji slipped out from beneath him into his bathroom. When he returned with a washcloth, he passed it to Ash in silence, lowering himself gingerly to perch on his mattress beside him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their breathing slowed, and the sunlight stretched over Ash’s toes. Eiji blinked over at him, chest soaring, as the muscles in his back rolled beneath his skin. A scar to match Eiji’s looked fresh at his kidney, another sharp one at his shoulder, but the freshest of them all lay over his heart, jagged and skin newly meshed together. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What else had the world made him endure? Hadn’t his whole life been enough pain?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How did you find me?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ash sighed, his eyes closing he folded his arms behind his head. He looked so at home laid back against Eiji’s pillow, and he itched to reach for his phone and take a picture of him. He never wanted to forget the way the sight made him feel, but he wasn’t sure he ever could anyway. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eiji lowered himself beside Ash, the springs of his mattress creaking as their weight joined at the center. His fingers wandered over his chest as it rose and fell with his breath, palm laying flat to feel the steady beat of his heart in his ribcage. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ibe gave me your address.” Ash tipped his chin towards Eiji, a sigh leaving his lips, eyes meandering over his form as if to take all of him in. He looked exhausted, but it was a long flight from New York to Tokyo, and an achingly long drive to Izumo from there. Eiji wondered how long he’d been awake for. Surely he wouldn’t have slept with a stranger driving him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Figures.” Eiji bobbed his head in a slow nod, and he tucked his chin into his chest as he rubbed his fingers against Ash’s skin. He smelled like a plane, and like sex and sweat. Maybe in a few hours, he’d add Eiji’s body wash to it. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I asked him not to,” Ash murmured, and his lashes met his cheeks as he shut his eyes. He was the picture of leisure, arms folded like they were and sunk into Eiji’s sheets. “Wanted to surprise you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was...sweet. And infuriating. Eiji could chew him out for it later though. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m more surprised you’re awake so early,” was what he replied with, pressing a cheeky smile into Ash’s clavicle as he rolled closer into his side. “Didn’t know you could function before the sun came up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ash scoffed, but there was a smile crinkling his eyes, and he shifted to wind an arm around Eiji’s shoulders and squeeze him closer. Eiji folded a leg over his, smile stretching wider over his lips, and his giggle was soft and delighted as he muffled it against Ash’s skin. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad you’re safe,” Eiji breathed after the silence had wrapped comfortably around them for a few minutes. Ash’s steady breathing filled the room, his heartbeat in Eiji’s ears, and he was still half sure that he was dreaming all of this up in his desperation to be one with him again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Me too,” Ash whispered, and his next exhale was long and deep as his expression went slack. Eiji wouldn’t be surprised if he slept the whole day away. He wasn’t going to wake him, though. He needed the rest. He’d earned that from a lifetime of fighting. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Okaeri,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Eiji murmured against his pulse, memorizing the way Ash’s arm felt around him, the way his breath felt in his hair and the way his heart beat steady and </span>
  <em>
    <span>real </span>
  </em>
  <span>under his ear. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This really wasn’t a dream. Ash was here, alive and breathing, and Eiji wouldn’t let him go. </span>
</p><p> </p>
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